Cayman Net News, one of Cayman’s daily papers, spreads the word on the Cayman Diving Lodge with a recent page 2 story.

Story as follows:

“The Cayman Islands Planning Department has given the green light for the reincarnation of the legendary Cayman Diving Lodge, originally founded in the early 70s by Hall of Famer, Bob Soto. The lodge was destroyed beyond repair in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan and had lain dormant while new plans were formed. During those four years tourism worldwide has awoken to the importance of Green Tourism and the attraction of vacations free of eco-guilt. Studies show that, if service and quality remain equal, travellers will now choose the greener option.

Cayman Diving Lodge is registered with the US Green Building Council’s LEED Certification programme. This programme is based on a point system for each ‘Green Ingredient’ of the development, as an example; a minimum of 12.5 percent of the energy needs for the resort will be generated using renewable resources. Over 100 solar panels and a single Helical Vertical Axis Wind Turbine will be used to provide this energy.

Other Points are based on: site selection, alternative transport planning, storm water design, heat island effects, light pollution, water efficiency and reuse, energy performance, indoor air quality plus storage and collection of recyclables. The new Lodge will be partially rebuilt on the old site, but now also includes the adjacent lot which more than doubles the white sand beach frontage. In addition to a restaurant and dive shop, the new resort will also feature an Organic Spa with a roof top garden terrace.

The resort will have 12 hotel style rooms and 12 condominium one-bedroom units. The 12 condominiums are available for sale as vacation homes and rental income investment properties. The project developers are Stephen and Shannon Broadbelt, and Michael Condrey. Architectural Design is by Icon Architecture and the Structural Design is by Small Engineering Ltd.
For more information and updates on this project, visit: www.divelodge.com.

We are excited to announce that we have reached a significant milestone in our pre-sales of the Cayman Diving Lodge beachfront units.    More than 1/3 of our available units are sold, and we have pending negotiations on more than 1/2 of all units.     We expect the remaining units to move quickly as appreciation continues through the busy winter season.   

Please contact our sales department about our pre-construction incentives while offers last.    

From all of us at Cayman Diving Lodge, we wish you the very best this holiday season.    We hope to see you safe and sound in 2008!

And don’t forget your New Year’s resolution to do more traveling to your favorite Caribbean destinations 

With world class diving, accommodations and dining at the new Cayman Diving Lodge, something was missing- A Spa! We are pleased to report recent approvals from the Planning Authorities and have now added this extra amenity to the plans. The Spa will also have a fitness center to complete our wellness services. Now if you have a non-diving Significant other, you can still get to go diving at your favorite dive resort while they enjoy a little pampering in the new Spa. More details on the services will be available soon.

More site works are taking place at the Cayman Diving Lodge in preparation of breaking ground. During the demolition of the old lodge earlier this year, we decided to leave behind the old cistern in case we could include it in some way with the new design. After further inspection of the tank, we decided that it was too old and a structural question mark to build our new hurricane proof lodge on top of it.

Shown in the photo, is the heavy equipment removing the very last of the old lodge before we can start the new construction. Not a bad view for a construction site

Little Cayman is currently the Greenest of the 3 Cayman Islands, so we decided to visit our friends and have a look for ourselves. In particular the the Little Cayman Research Center (LCRC) is the Greenest of them all. LCRC has solar panels for hot water and a composting toilet system (shown in photo) that was amazingly clean and scent free. for more information on the Central Caribbean Marine Institute and their research center, visit http://www.reefresearch.org

Southern Cross Club is also doing well in the Green arena, with solar panels for hot water and water re-use systems for irrigation. Peter (the owner) is also looking in to PV solar panels to generate electricity for their cold storage during power cuts.

For more info on Southern Cross, visit: http://www.southerncrossclub.com

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is a non-profit organization committed to expanding sustainable building practices. USGBC is composed of more than 12,000 organizations from across the building industry that are working to advance structures that are environmentally responsible, profitable, and healthy places to live and work. Members include building owners and end-users, real estate developers, facility managers, architects, designers, engineers, general contractors, subcontractors, product and building system manufacturers, government agencies, and nonprofits.

The USGBC system will be used for certifying the Green design and construction of the Cayman Diving Lodge.

For more information, visit www.usgbc.org

The word is starting to get out about the exciting new opportunities at the Cayman Diving Lodge.   The online magazine, Entertainment and Leisure, and the online version of SCUBA Diving Magazine are carrying links to our development updates!   Check out more here:  www.entertainmentandleisure.com  and be sure to click through to the Featured Site.

We are very excited to announce that the LR6 lighting product that CDL will be using has been chosen as the 2007 Grand Prize Winner of the “Lighting for Tomorrow” SSL competition, a contest sponsored by the American Lighting Association, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Consortium of Energy Efficiency.

LLF is a global leader in general illumination solid-state lighting technology. The 6″ down lights (LR6) will be used in all rooms and the lobby of the Cayman Diving Lodge. These lights use 75% less energy that regular bulbs and do NOT contain any mercury as do the popular CFL energy saving bulbs. These new Solid State Lights have a life span of 25-50 years and will out live most of us, other than our children.

You can learn more about LED lighting at:

http://www.lightingfortomorrow.com/

http://www.llfinc.com

Wind turbines like stackable Helical fans will be installed at the Cayman Diving Lodge. The wind energy of our tropical breezes will be put to good use at the new lodge - there is something very satisfying about the act of using wind power to create energy to run air compressors to fill dive tanks. The 30 year averages for wind speed in Grand Cayman are between 7.1 to 9.7 mph, which are well suited to this particular model of turbine which has no minimum cut out speed. The model ‘SeaHawk’ shown in the photo is produced by Pacwind and is available in individual 500W modules or in a tower stack up to 5 units tall. More information is available on their website: www.pacwind.net